Advertising sign



@wat l5, 1929.,

J. SODERBER@ Ml ADVERTISING SIGN Filed April 5. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l attorney @am EAW@ J. SODERBERG ADVERTISING SIGN 2 -heeta-smm 2 F"iled April 5. i927 v ya ing motion theretd dil Patented Oct. 15, 1929 ,UNITED`- STATES PATENT FFlcE JOSEPH SODEBBRG, 0F IRON MOUNTAIN,IIICHIGA.N

ADVERTISING SIGN Application tiled April 5,

ya attention more quickly than a sign which is devoid thereof@ Therefore the present invention has as one of its objects to provide a sign which will include a display surface and y means for practically continuously impart- Miore specifically it is one of the objects of the invention to rovide a sign which may be readily operate' through the medium of a Wind mill, so that there is no expense involved eo in maintaining the operation of the sign except that due to repair of Worn parts.

'lhe sign embodying the present invention is adapted for the display of allvarieties of advertising matter or in other Words is adapted for use 1n advertising merchandise, or the business ofl the company, iirm, or other user of the sign and in signs of this general class it is desired to present a display of the merchandise or other subject matter of the advertisement together with such Wording as may be appropriate, but in such signs as ordinarily constructed the wordinfr of the sign is usually merely painted upon the display surface 'of the sign and is not particularl attractive. Therefore it is another object o the present invention to provide for the display of the y Wording of a sign of this class with a simulation of constant change in the appearance of lthe letters constituting the same, the. change, in the present instance heilig not only in color, but also attended by the appearance of mo` tion.

In the accompanying drawings.: Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of aisign Vconstructed in accordance with the resent invention a portion oi? the front of t e sign beingbrolren away to better illustrate the up per portion of the display band of the sign; Fig. 2 is a vertical front to rear sectional no view through the sign taken substantially on 19W., Serial No.. 181,217;

the line 2-2 of 1 loolring in the direction lndicated by the arrows; i

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indi-` catedby the arrows; i y i Fig. t is a view partly in plan and artly in section illustratingthe bearingfor Vt c upper end of one of the rollers about which the display band of the sign is arranged to travel,

The sign embodying the invention includes a casing which is preferably of hollow rectangular form and which may be builtnp of Wood or sheet metal and includes a front Wall 1, a rear Wall 2, and end Walls A3 rt-ictangularA angle` iron frames 4 and 5 ybeingarranged i within the top and bottoni of the casing for connecting and rclativel spacing the said Walls. The casino sired dimensionsfbut it will be in any event of considerably greateri length than depth from front to rear, this latter dimension belng only sufficient to accommodate the display band which passes about rolls mounted inthe ends of the casing.A One'of, these rolls, indi cated by the numeral 6, isanidle roll and is mounted at that end of the casing lwhich is at the righi hand end of tire fronti, the casing being provided in its said -front 1 'with a display o ening 7 which is ofvrectangular form and o' considerable area or dimensions as compared to the area ofthe said front 1 of the casing, this front constituting in combina# tion -with the signor displa play surfacepj the signs 'T e dis lay band eretofore referredto is displays through the opening 7 in a manner Which Will resentn ly be more specifically pointed out. T e other one of the rolls referred to is indicated by the numeral 8 and the said roll is rovided at its lower end with atrunnion 9 ]ourna1ed in a suitable bearing 10 'at the bottom of the cas ing at the left hand end thereof, the said roll being provided at its upper end with a trunnion 11 which is journa ed in a manner which will new be described., Frontbraces 12 are arranged in the top of the casing and extend vbetween the front and rear Walls thereof and are secured at their ends to the front and rear members of the frame 4, and bolted or may e made offanydet y otherwise secured as at 13 to the upper side of one of the cross members is a yoke 14 preferably formed from a sheet metal plate having its end portions struck downwardly and thence'outwardly to provide attaching portrunnion 11, the trunnionat its portion which extends above the bearing portion 16 being square' as shown in Figure 3 of the drawings for a purposeto be presently explained, The

plate comprising the bearing member'15 is likewise formed to provide upwardly and outwardly inclined side portions 17 whichv i terminate in horizontally outwardly extend# ingportions one indicated by the numeral 18 and the other by the lnumeral 19. The portion :18 is fitted into the space between the inter-V mediate portionof the yoke 14 and the-upperl side of the cross piece 12, anda bolt 20is removably secured through the attaching portion 19 and through the cross piece 12 upon which this attaching portion ofthe bearing member rests as clearly shown `in 'Figures 3 vand 4 of the drawings.

The roll 8 is adapted to be driven through the medium of a wind mill which comprises a suitable frame structure 21.mounted`upon the to ofl the casing at the left hand end thereo ,bracket members 2 2 being preferably provided for this purpose and secured to the front and rear sides of the upperframe 4- of the'casing, and these bracket members are' preferably provided with openings 23 for the connection of guy cables (not shown) leadin to suitable anchors driven into the Vgroun in juxtaposition to the sign. The `wind mill shaft is indicated by the numeral 24 andthe said shaftis mounted at its upper end in a suitable bearing 25 provided at the top of the frame structure 21. The lower end of the shaft I24 is squared as indicatedtby the I numeral 26and a bearing 27 is mounted upon the top of the casing, preferably upon. the intermediate portions of the bracket members 22, and has an opening 28 formed therein to accommodate the portion of the shaft 24` above its squared lower 4end portion' 26. A collar 29 is formed integrally upon the shaft 24 or it may be formed separately and secured in any suitable manner and the upper side of l i the bearing 27 and the under side of the colflar are formed with opposin ball races as sliownfin Figure 3, bearing ba ls 30 being arrangpd'within the races. In this manner the sha `24"-is supported in vertical alinement with the' axis of the roll 8 arfd lthe lower end..

' of the shaft is adapted to be connected with.l

1.; -so as to impart rotary motion to the roll in` the upper end of the trunnion 1l of the roll 8 the rotation of the shaft, the means employed for connecting the squared lower end of the shaft and the squared upper end of the trunnion being in the nature of a box-like or rectangular sleeve 31\which is slidably' engaged or fitted upon these parts. It will be observed at this point, by reference to Figure 3, that when the sleeve is resting by gravity in the position shown in the said figure with its lower end seating upon the bearing member 16, the sleeve will enclose both the lower end of the shaft 24 and the upper end of the trunnion 11 and inasmuch as the sleeve is of rectangular form and snugly fits the shaft end and the trunnion, the trunnion will be connected for rotation with the shaft.v It will be evident, however, that when it is desired to remove the roll 8 for the purpose of changing the display band, as will presently be more specifically described, the sleeve 31 may beI slid upwardly upon the squared lower portion 26 of the shaft 24 until its lower end has cleared the upper end of the trunnion 11 whereupon the bolt 20 may be removed and the bearing member 15 swung or sprung upwardly until its bearing portion 16 clears the upper end of the trunnion thus permitting the roll to be tilted and its-lower trunnion 9 unstepped from the bearing 10. A bevel gear 32 is fixed upon the upper end of the windmill sli-aft 24, and this gear meshes with a similar gear,33 fixed upon a shaft 34 rotatably journaled in the head 35 of the windmill and carrying the wind wheel comprising theusual 'assemblage of blades 36, the vane of the windmill being indicated by the numeral 37 and being mounted at the side of the head 35 opposite the side at which the wind wheel 36 is located.

The display band of the sign is indicated by the numeral 38 and the said band is endless and may be made of canvas or any other flexible material found suitable for the purpose, the band being'of a width equal substantially to the length of the rolls 6 and 8 and being trained about the rolls as clearly shown in the drawings. Upon the band there will be painted or otherwise represented, as at 39, pictorial illustrations or advertising matter of any desired character but preferably of the character stated. It will be observed that the illustrations -39 occupy that portion of the area of the display band 38 which is presentedto view through the opening 7 in the travel of the band. In connection with Vsuch advertising matter it is usually desirable to display a slogan or some text matter relative to the commodity or business advertised and therefore, the wall 1 of the casing may have formed in it a number of' play is accompanied by some other factor such as motion or change' in appearance, the

attractiveness of the display is greatly enhanced and for this reason the sign band 38 has painted or otherwise represented upon its surface at its upper edge portion a continuous series of diagonally arranged stripes or color strip areas 4l which are of dierent colors and it will be evident by reference to Figure 1 of the drawings that as the si n band travels past the opening 7 and past t e stencil openings 40, the advertising matter 39 will be displayed through the former opening, and the stencils 40 will appear to be constantly changing in colorand with the elect of motion due to the passage of the stripes or color strip areas 41 past the said stencils, and therefore attention will be attracted to this portion of the display as well as to the pictorial advertising matter 39. l l

It is to be understood, of course,'that various changes may be made, Within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention; a

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is: v

1. In outdoor display advertising apparatus, an elongated relatively shallow rectangular casing having a display opening in its front wall, spaced rotatable rolls mounted within the casing in rear of the wall, an endless display band trained about the rolls and having one of its stretches extending across the display opening, and a wind mill mounted above and supported solely by the casing and having a power shaft and driving head rotatable about the axis of the power shaft.

and carrying a wind wheel and wind vane,

said windmill having its power shaft operatively connected with one of said rolls. y

2. In outdoor display apparatus, an elongated, relatively shallow, rectangular casing having a display opening in its front wall and provided, in its said wall, above said opening, with openings defining the characters of advertising matter, an endless display band supported for travel within said casing with one of its stretches passing behind said front wall, the display band bearing pictorial advertising matter upon a'longitudinal portion `of its surface for display through said opening in the front wall of the casing and bearing upon another longitudinal portion, color areas positioned to pass the openin s in the portion of said front wall above sald opening through which the last mentioned matter is displayed, the said color areas being diagonally arranged upon said portion ofthe band.

In testimony whereof I ax my signature.

JOSEPH SODERBERG. 

